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stent 'ffrra l v eine JOHN E. BRASTOW- ANI) EBEE K. INGOLDSBY, OF VANBUREN CENTRE,

- NEW YORK` Letters Patent No. 62,928, dated llfarch I9, 1867. l

IIvIPROVEMENI' IN RAILROAD PICKSI p 'IO ALL WHOM I'I MAY CONCERN:

Be itV knovvn that We, JOHN E. BRAS'TOW and EBEE K. INGOLDSBY, of Van Buren Centre, in the county of Onondaga, and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Railroad Picks or Mattocks; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification. l Figure I is a perspective view of our improvedqpick, with a portion of the handle broken away. Figure .2 is a longitudinal section of the same. Figure 3, aperspective'vieiv of the iron strap which Aforms both a fastening for the pick, and aguard or shield for the handle, the said strap being shown asnot yet bent to receive the pick-head.

Figure 4, a-perspeetive View of the head end. of 'the handle, showing the mortise for the pick-head. .Like lettersof reference indicate corresponding parts in all of the gures.

' Our improvement ispartieularly intended for use on railroads, where the pick is employed in striking under the rails. By constant use for this purpose the` handle becomes abra-decl and worn, and the pick loosened by repeated concussione, so as soon to render it useless.

Our invention consists in forming'a straight metallic barvor strap, which is punched withv two holes of suitable size,.and in such aposition -that when the straps are afterward heut to form arguard for the exposed sides of the handle, and riveted thereto, the two holes are opposite, and, with the intermediate unbent portion, form an eye or socket to receive the pick-head, into which it may be keyed with an ordinary Wedge; thus making the single strap serve the double purpose of a fastening for the pick and guard for the handle.

'As represented in the drawings, A is the handle, which is' of the usual form, except .that instead of being fitted to enter an eye inthe pick, it is made With a mortise, a, to receive the solidl head of the pick between the sides Z1 b. Over the mortiseend of this handle is bent the Vstrap C, which is formed of a straight barof iron, alsV shown inig. 3, having eyes, g g, formed therein, at such positions as-thatwhen bentover the handlethey will coincide with mortiseo in the end thereof. The strap, when thus bent to iit the handle, forms a top bandyf, extending over the pick-head, and two guards d el, which extend on opposite sides ofthe handle a suiiicient distance to receive tivo rivets, c c, which extend through the handle and are headed on each guard-plate ch We are aware that it is common to .bend straps around picks or other tools, and rivet or otherwise fasten-to the sides ofthe handle, but in such eases the position of the strap before bending is transverse to the direction of thepick or blade; while in our method thestrap is-made and fitted longitudinally of the blade of the pick before bending. This secures entirely different results, viz guarding the exposed sides (those adjacent to the points of the pickg) giving greater strength to rcsistblows and prying motions thereof; allowing the handle to be made as thick as may be required for'strength, and presentingv the ibresof the str-ap longitudinally of the strains to which it is subjected; thus securingthe greatest strength of the metal. The importance of this will be apparent when it is observed that nearly allthe strains to which picks or mattoeks' are subjected, arelongitudinal of' the handle and blades, and rarely, if ever, transverse thereto. The pick-head 'B is passed through the eyes g g, and is secured by a notch or depression, 2', iig. 2, which receives part-f of ythe strap C, and a key orwedge, D, iS then driven through the eyes g'g, and mortise a, vin contact with the inside of the pick, by which combination of devices the pick and handle are irmlyseeuredtogether. Thusarranged, it will be perceived that while'we secure a firm fastening for the pick-head, We also accomplish a great advantage in picks for railroad use especially, by shielding those two sides of the. handle which strike against the top 'or edges of -the rails. Unless thus protected, the handles soon become so Worn aste be worthless, and have to be replaced.` The strap-shield, as above described, is much more effective than an extended socket enclosing the handle could possibly be. The former is light, elastic, and yielding, whilethe latter would be h eavy, cumbersome, and rigid; besides, in the one case, the handle is made of thel fullsize to insure strength, while in the other it would have to be out down,or else ,the socket bc made very large. In use, also, the strap being light and yielding, causes no jar to the hands of the operator; while in the other c`ase,rtl1e rebound is considerable, and the concussion, when the head or handle strikes 'a rail or other unyielding substance,`poceasions a painful shock to the arms of the operator. The lightness and pliability of the strap allow it to yield when struck against a rail or other hard substance, so as to break the concussion, and it may becomeihdented without injuring the fibres ofthe wooden handle. The strap is so light that it may indent without drawing or loosening the heads of the rivets,so that the piek remains tight in the handle much longer than when composed of lieavy parts rigidly connected, for thc reason that the vibration of repeated-blows will, in time, aiectthe strongest connections. v

We are aware that. there are picks in use in which the head is held in a stirrlip by wedges, as in the patent of J. E. En'ierson,`Nc 23,358, but' in this case the stirrup embraces the'handle on vits transverse sides, and does not at all protect 4the handle from injury when striking upon a railroad rail, apurpose for which ours is particularly designed; nor strengthen it to resiststrains in the direction ofthe pick-points and handle; nor does it hold-the pick in two solidmetalliccyes like g g, of the strap G; While the wood of the handle has tobe reduced in size to connect with the several parts to'which thestirrup 4is attached; thereby weakening it; and it also requires an iron head' to Vthe handle tov receive a gib and wedge in addition to the stirrup, thus making the fastening to consist of numerous parts. There are also picksA in which the handle is partially protected by ferrulcs or by plates or guards provided for that purpose alone, 'but we are not aware of any instance in which the handle is strengthened and shielded, and the pick seeured'to it by a simple strap'applied longitudinally with the 'head and handle. By this siinple mode of construction we secure the following results and advantages:

A secure fastening of4 the handle and pick without aneye in the latter; increasedstrength with less weight;

reduced cost of manufacture, as the eyes' are punched from a straight flat bar, ,the only forging required being that to bend it to it the sides of the handle.; riveting through the handle in a direction which strengthens it, and prevents its 4splitting by use; the handle may be made :is thick transversely as strength may require, whereas when the transverse strap o1' socket or eye is used, it has to be redncedat the expense of its strength; it enables the wedge to be used longitudinally ofthe bla-de, thereby .securing the-greatest strength, and gives it a metallic bearing without providing a metal head or thc handle. j

wWe claim attaching the pick te its handle by forming a head of the strap C, constructed and applied substantially as Aand fort-he purposes herein set forth. In witness whereof` we have hereunto signed our names in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. i JOHN E.' BRAS'TOW,

EBER K. 'ING0LDsBY- Witnesses:

' A. BENTLEY,

HOWARD BENTLEY. 

